Electricity is one of the world's most fascinating natural phenomena, and is so common that people often overlook its mystique. During fourth grade, students are introduced to the basics of electricity and so your lesson could be the first time your students have focused specifically on the impressive characteristics of electrical energy. Balance open discussions, instruction and interactive demonstrations to adequately teach your fourth graders about electricity, and to inspire the amazement it deserves.

Introduction and Discussion

Begin by asking the class what they already know about electricity. Ask them if they know what static electricity is, if they've ever given someone a static shock, or if they can explain what an electric current is. Use their answers as jump points into your introduction of electricity. Explain the foundation of electricity: that atoms are responsible for electric charges, that protons are positively charged, while electrons carry negative charges. Also explain that opposite charges attract, while like charges repel. Help them understand that atoms, with more electrons than protons, will have an overall negative charge, and are therefore attracted to positively charged objects.

Static Electricity

Once you've laid the groundwork for their understanding, focus specifically on static electricity. Explain that static electricity results when electrons move from one object to another, but without a continuous current. Rather, the electrons jump toward the object to which they're attracted. When they jump, they can create sparks, which is why static shocks and lightning can be visible. Stress that attraction is the key to static transfer. Blow up a balloon and ask for a student to volunteer to rub the balloon on his or her hair. As the student rubs the balloon against his or her hair, electrons will transfer from the hair to the balloon. If you now hold the balloon close to the student's hair, the hair will move toward the balloon. This happens because the hair has lost electrons, and is now positively charged.

Electric Currents

Begin explaining the characteristics of electric current by acknowledging that static discharges are events where electrons jump toward an object, while a current is a stream of free electrons that travels through a material called a conductor. Offer some common examples of conductors, such as wires, metal surfaces and water, and explain that conductors are simply materials that allow electricity to pass through them. Also, have the class name some insulators, or non-conductors, that can shield you from electric currents.

Closing Demonstrations

Set up two demonstrations: a desk lamp fitted with an incandescent bulb, and materials to construct a simple electromagnet. Begin with the lamp so they can actually see an electric current at work. Have your students notice the filament inside of the the light bulb. Explain that the electric current will travel from the wall outlet, through the wire, into the light and through that filament, and that the current will heat the filament and cause it to glow. Afterward, build the electromagnet. Wrap a length of copper wire around an iron nail, and then attach the ends of the wire to the positive and negative ends of a D-cell battery. The nail will become magnetized, allowing the class to witness the effects of the electrical current on the nail.

About the Author

Christopher Cascio is a memoirist and holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and literature from Southampton Arts at Stony Brook Southampton, and a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in the rhetoric of fiction from Pennsylvania State University. His literary work has appeared in "The Southampton Review," "Feathertale," "Kalliope" and "The Rose and Thorn Journal."